Smile
by jellinor
Summary: About a boy and a girl. "You're sweet," she smiled as his face flushed pink. "But you're still a jock." One-shot, done a bit differently.


Author's Note: And this, folks, is what happens when the author has a philosophy paper due to be turned in; I sat down to write a serious, grade-saving masterpiece and somehow ended up with fluff that is completely unrelated to Kant's take on ethics. So let me present a sweet nothing consisting entirely of dialogue between two unnamed characters. It sounds a bit vague (which it is, I suppose), but it was a pleasure to write and ambiguity can be sort of refreshing sometimes.

Anyway, the story is set at a mixed junior high school somewhere in the Kantou area, roughly one year into the future. The girl is just a girl, but the boy...? The boy is someone you know. See, I had a particular young team regular in mind when I wrote this thing and I left some clues in the text; find them and you might figure out the true identity of our Mystery Tennis Maniac before the end (^.^)/

Also, a tip: _better the devil you know than the devil you don't_.. .and who knows, that might be useful.

Good luck and happy hunting!

Disclaimer: Sadly, _The Prince of Tennis_ is not mine.

* * *

**Smile**

-#-

_Come on..._ he urged. _I used to go all the time. It'll be fun!_

_Fun?_ she echoed. _Maybe for you._

_It is,_ he confirmed. _And today I feel like sharing._

_I guess I should be flattered,_ she remarked sarcastically, _because you're generous enough to get me into trouble, too. I'm really sorry, but I still need to find Tanaka-kun for the budget and—_

_You're welcome_, he **smile**d and she let him grab a hold of her hand without much of a fight. _Now let's go before lunch break ends._

-#-

_This is wrong_, she sighed as he dragged her behind him toward the staircase, _and it'll set a bad example to the others._

_So what?_ he replied. _It's not like we'll get caught._

_But what if we do,_ she insisted. _Then, what do you think will happen?_

_Detention, probably,_ he offered off-handily. _Nothing serious, though._

_Nothing serious...?! _she exclaimed._ But I'm a part of the Student Council! Or have you forgotten already?_

_Well...,_ he countered with a shrug. _We'll just have to make sure we won't get caught then, won't we._

_But what about you? _she tried. _Wouldn't you get in trouble with your coach or something?_

_Nah, we don't have a coach, _he replied. _We don't need it. For us, Buchou's word is Law._

_So you can basically do whatever you want_, she questioned. _And the school actually allows that...?_

_Yes, _he said, serious for once. _It actually does._

_I don't believe you, _she protested. _Each club needs a supervisor or it'll get closed down! Those are the rules!_

_Then we're an exception_, he insisted with pride, _because everyone knows that Buchou knows best._

_Seriously... _she sighed. _You just say that because it's you._

_But it's true_, he **smile**d and she almost believed him.

-#-

_This is a bad idea,_ she grumbled. _We're not even supposed to be up here._

_Oh, yeah?_ He looked around the empty rooftop. _And what makes you say that?_

_The "Do Not Enter" sign on the door_, she pointed out as dryly as she could, _sort of gave it away._

_Maybe_, he smirked. _But why would they put benches here if no one were going to sit on them?_

_Well, you know…_ She racked her brains for something clever. _Well…_

_See?_ he grinned after pushing her down in a seat. _And you're supposed to be the smartest in your class._

_And you're supposed to be an insufferable jock,_ she countered, _who only thinks about tennis._

_Says who?_ he snapped. _You shouldn't listen to everything you hear._

_And neither should you._ She had rolled her eyes. _Besides, Ayumi-chan scored higher than me on the math test yesterday. They posted the results this morning._

_...really?_ he inquired. _What happened? Didn't you study?_

_I didn't have time_, she confessed. _The Student Council meeting ran over and then I had to go to cram school, and when I came home—_

_That's stupid. Why do you go to cram school anyway?_ he snorted. _You don't need it. You're doing fine already._

_But 'fine' isn't good enough, _she replied with a sigh, _at least not according to Mother. I know that it's still far off, but she's got her sights set on Toudai._

_That place suits a brainiac like you, _he joked. _But, uh... You don't actually think that I'm just a jock, right?_

_And what makes you think that you're not?_ she teased. _You practically live out on the tennis courts._

_And you're always holed up in the library,_ he replied, _when you're not in the Student Council room. I hardly see you anymore, and when I do, you're always busy._

_It's not like I do it on purpose,_ she protested, _or give myself extra work to avoid you._

_Yeah, I know, _he said, looking away. _Still, it's... nice to hang out like this once in a while._

_You're sweet, _she smiled as his face flushed pink. _But you're still a jock._

_That's not very polite, _he pouted. _You're hurting my feelings._

_Sure, _she laughed. _But at least they're wrong about one thing._

_What? _he demanded._ Who's wrong about what?_

_They say that you don't think about anything other than tennis, _she explained. _But I know that's not true._

_And what makes you so sure?_ he smirked. _Unless they teach you how to read minds at cram school...?_

_They do at the really expensive ones, _she deadpanned. _But you couldn't have tennis on your brain all of the time, because you think about me too, right?_

_If I get bored, maybe... sometimes, _he finally admitted but knowing that his **smile** told her otherwise.


End file.
